How to Claim Your Previous Rental Loss
- 1). Obtain the Schedule C and 1040 forms from the IRS website.
- 2). Fill out the top section of the Schedule C form with your rental business's information. You'll need to enter the name, address, accounting method and date the business started, along with either your social security number or the business's EIN number, if it has one.
- 3). Enter your total income in the categories provided in part 1 of the Schedule C form, and your total business expenses in part 2.
- 4). Fill out parts 3, 4 and 5 only if they are applicable to your situation. Part 3 needs to be filled out if your business also sold goods, part 4 needs to be filled out if you used a vehicle for business purposes and part 5 needs to be filled out if you have any other business expenses that didn't fit under any other category.
- 5). Fill out the top portion of Form 1040 with your name, address and social security number. Check the appropriate box designated for your filing status in the next section, and enter any of exemptions you're claiming in the section following that one.
- 6). Fill out the income section with the appropriate information in each of the fields. Pay particular attention to line 12 because this is where you enter the business losses you calculated on the Schedule C form. The losses can be found on line 31 of Schedule C.
- 7). Fill out the remaining sections including adjusted gross income, tax and credits, other taxes, payments, refund, amount you owe and third party designee.
- 8). Sign and date the bottom and mail the completed forms to the IRS.
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